Dave Dobbin, President of DAVE Wireless, told Marketnews this morning that it "irks him" to hear that if WIND Mobile can't enter the Canadian market, it spells the "death of competition in the industry.

"It's misleading," he says. "We're coming, with plans to launch in every major metropolitan area that WIND is launching in. Videotron will offer strong competition in Quebec, Bragg in the Maritimes."

Perhaps the reason consumers and industry pundits have pegged Globalive, parent company to WIND Mobile, as the main driver in changing the Canadian wireless landscape is because the company has been very vocal about its plans, position in the market, and feelings about the current state of the wireless landscape. DAVE, on the other hand, is known to be a very tight-lipped company. This past summer, Dobbin did tell Marketnews that service would launch in early 2010; a fact that he confirmed in our interview this morning. Plans still centre around both basic and smartphone devices, and will, in turn, focus on both voice as well as data. The company won't operate under the name DAVE, though. In fact, a new brand name has already been determined, but the company is not yet ready to disclose it. Besides that, you won't get much more out of DAVE, Dobbin or otherwise.

"We will do things when we want," says Dobbin matter-of-factly, "not when others want us to. Why would you build customer expectation a year before launch?"

Last summer, Globalive was awarded significant spectrum in the wireless auction, and its company was approved for a license to operate by Industry Canada. However, a follow-up public review, fueled by the existing carriers Bell, Rogers, and Telus, led to the CRTC essentially revoking this license due to foreign ownership concerns that violate the Telecommunications Act. (Globalive is mainly owned by Egyptian telecom company Orascom Telecom.) The issue is currently under review by Industry Minister Tony Clement, and Globalive remains up in the air with a network it is unable to use, and staff with nothing to do.

Despite Dobbin's assurance that companies like DAVE will indeed pose some much-needed competition in Canada, Anthony Lacavera, Chairman and CEO of Globalive, stands firm on his opinion that WIND is the only company that would have (and hopefully still will) be able to compete for the long-haul.

"It's a business of scale," he tells Marketnews, "about getting the latest technology as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. The other companies have no existing customer base, no track record in wireless. And for me, this is possible because of Orascom. You have to start with scale in order to get any sort of preferential agreements and actually compete with the incumbents. Otherwise, I'll be playing the game Clearnet and Microcel were playing."

Still, Lacavera acknowledges that companies like DAVE and Public Mobile (the latter of which plans to play in the basic talk and taxt market) will likely be successful and have a meaningful impact on the market. "I think Alek [Krstajic of Public Mobile] and Dave [Dobbin] are strong CEOs, so they have a good chance of making a good business."

For now, Lacavera says he remains optimistic as the company awaits a decision from the Industry Minister and assesses its options. However, short of changing foreign ownership regulations on the fly, the situation does seem grim for the potential carrier.

"If the law were to be changed," says Dobbin, "it would send an interesting message to the rest of the world about how Canada operates. Dobbin says he isn't against adjustments in foreign ownership regulation, but says things like that should be done with a full debate in the House of Commons, not just because someone didn't follow through with the rules. "We are, after all, a democracy."

"We're still on track to launch," he adds, "and it's great news that we're coming. "This is a marathon, not a sprint," he concludes, adding that I should hold off on renewing my own contract because I'll want to go with their service.

It's certainly possible. Having WIND and DAVE both on board in the industry would be great; but with either one, we can look forward to some positive changes to come.

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